Financing: Strategies & Opportunities

Planning Tools and Resources

Mental Health Community Case Management and Its Effect on Healthcare Expenditures
This journal article written by Joseph Parks, MD; Tim Swinfard, MS; and Pauk Stuve, PhD found that people with severe mental illness served by public mental health systems have rates of co-occurring chronic medical illnesses that of two to three times higher than the general population, with a corresponding life expectancy of 25 years less. Treatment of these chronic medical conditions in those with serious mental illness is often substandard, with many receiving no treatment at all. Much of the treatment they do receive comes from costly ER visits and inpatient stays, rather than routine screenings and preventive medicine.


Environmental Assessment Tool, State Level Policy and Financing

This assessment tool helps organizations review their state level policy and financing environment and the extent to which it supports effective collaboration among behavioral health and primary care providers, especially regarding the Medicaid and “safety net” populations.

Financing, Policy and Integration of Services
The purpose of this discussion paper on the current state of financing and policy support for behavioral health and primary care integration is to bring together multiple strands of information to support future policy change at the federal and state levels.

Financing Integrated Care: Working Creatively Within Existing Opportunities
In a National Council Magazine article, Integrated Health Program Specialist Kathy Reynolds offers a review of immediate solutions to fund integrated care programs in Medicaid fee-for-service and capitated states.

Reimbursement of Mental Health Services in Primary Care Settings
SAMHSA's 2008 report provides a look at some of the payment policies and practices that may prohibit or discourage the provision of mental health services in primary care settings.

The Business Case for Bidirectional Integrated Care
The California Integration Policy Initiative (CiMH) has released an updated resource on the business case for integrated care, highlighting the importance of having primary care capacity in behavioral health settings and behavioral health capacity in primary care settings.

Billing Tools and Resources

Medicaid/Medicare

Health and Behavior Assessment and Intervention Codes (HBAI) - 
9600 Series
The American Psychological Association has recently released an online tool on using the HBAI codes. The tool is useful for primary and behavioral healthcare providers.
 
Health and Behavioral Codes
Developed by Maine Health this document provides information on using 96100 Health and Behavior codes in primary care settings.  
Paying for Behavioral Health Visits on Same Day as Medical Visit
Developed by NACHC and SAMHSA, this Map provides information on which states allow for same day billing of a behavioral health and a primary care visit.  Updated as of 9/14/09

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment
The SBIRT system provides for brief intervention or brief treatment within the community setting, or motivates and refers those identified as needing more extensive services than provided in the community setting to a specialist setting for assessment, diagnosis, and appropriate treatment.

Private Payors

DIAMOND Initiative
The following two articles describe how private health plans are paying for the care management services associated with the implementation of the IMPACT Depression Program in Primary Care.
DIAMOND Project Overview
DIAMOND Return on Investment

Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI). ICSI is the website for the DIAMOND Initiative. http://www.icsi.org/ 


Other Information and Resources

How to Win Federal Grants and Contracts
National Council Members-Only resources include a webinar recording and other resources on how to win federal grants and contracts.

An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease
This interactive map provides useful statistics on the economic burden of chronic disease by state, including emotional disorders.

Depression and Costs of Healthcare
Psychosomatics, July-August 2009
Patients with depression had higher median per-patient annual non-mental health costs than patients without depression in all 11 diseases studied. There was also a higher-than-random comorbidity between depression and all 11 chronic comorbid diseases.

The Faces of Medicaid III: Refining the Portrait of People with Multiple Chronic Conditions
This report from the Centers for Health Care Strategies provides insights for targeting efforts to improve care and control spending for the program's highest-need, highest-cost beneficiaries.

 

 

National Council Magazine

A special issue features case studies and expert perspectives on behavioral health-primary care collaboration.